A former head of OpenSea Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in blockchain and crypto projects, has been accused of being involved in pump and dump schemes that manipulated the prices of several tokens. Kevin Pawlak, who left OpenSea Ventures in August 2023, allegedly used his insider information and influence to buy low and sell high on various tokens, such as $SHIB, $DOGE, $SAFEMOON, and $CUMMIES1.
According to a report by CryptoSlate1, Pawlak was exposed by a group of anonymous researchers who tracked his wallet addresses and transactions on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks. The researchers claimed that Pawlak used multiple wallets to hide his activities and coordinated with other influencers and traders to create artificial hype and demand for the tokens he was holding. They also alleged that Pawlak dumped his tokens on unsuspecting retail investors, causing massive losses for them.
The researchers provided screenshots and links to evidence their claims, such as Pawlak’s tweets, Telegram messages, Etherscan and BscScan transactions, and charts showing the price movements of the tokens he traded. They also claimed that Pawlak was not the only one involved in these schemes, and that there were other prominent figures in the crypto space who collaborated with him.
Pawlak has not responded to the allegations publicly yet, and his Twitter account has been deleted. OpenSea Ventures, which has invested in projects such as Uniswap, Compound, Chainlink, and Aave2, has also not issued any statement regarding the matter. The accusations against Pawlak have raised questions about the ethics and transparency of some crypto investors and influencers, and the risks of market manipulation in the decentralized space.